Cerebral microemboli during extracorporeal life support: a single-centre cohort study

Predictors of intracranial hemorrhage in neonatal patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a life-supportive treatment in neonatal patients with refractory lung and/or heart failure. Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) is a severe complication and reliable predictors are warranted. The aims of this study were to explore the incidence and possible predictors of ICH in ECMO-treated neonatal patients. We performed a single-center retrospective observational cohort study. Patients aged ≤ 28 days treated with ECMO between 2010 and 2018 were included. Exclusion criteria were ICH, ischemic stroke, cerebrovascular malformation before ECMO initiation or detected within 12 h of admission, ECMO treatment < 12 h, or prior treatment with ECMO at another facility > 12 h. The primary outcome was a CT-verified ICH. Logistic regression models were employed to identify possible predictors of the primary outcome. Of the 223 patients included, 29 (13%) developed an ICH during ECMO treatment. Thirty-day mortality was 59% in the ICH group and 16% in the non-ICH group (p < 0.0001). Lower gestational age (p < 0.01, odds ratio (OR) 0.96; 95%CI 0.94-0.98), and higher pre-ECMO lactate levels (p = 0.017, OR 1.1; 95%CI 1.01-1.18) were independently associated with increased risk of ICH-development. In the clinical setting, identification of risk factors and multimodal neuromonitoring could help initiate steps that lower the risk of ICH in these patients.

Effect of aortic cannulation depth on air emboli transport during cardiopulmonary bypass: A computational study

Introduction

Varying the insertion depth of the aortic cannula during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) has been investigated as a strategy to mitigate cerebral emboli, yet its effectiveness associated with CPB flow is not fully understood. We compared different arterial cannula insertion depths and pump flow influencing air microemboli entering the aortic arch branch arteries (AABA).

Methods

A computational approach used a patient-specific aorta model to evaluate four cannula locations at (1) proximal arch, (2) mid arch, (3) distal arch, and (4) descending aorta. We injected 0.1 mm microemboli (N=720) at 2 and 5 L/min and assessed the embolic load and the particle averaged transit times ( entering the AABA.

Results

Location 4 had the lowest embolic load (2 L/min: N= 63) and (5 L/min: N= 54) compared to locations 1 to 3 in the range of (N= 118 to 116 at 2 L/min:) and (N= 92 to 146 at 5 L/min). There was no significant difference between 2 L/min and 5 L/min (p = 0.31), despite 5 L/min attaining a lower mean (±standard deviation) than 2 L/min (38.0±23.4 vs 44.5±21.1), respectively. Progressing from location 1 to 4, increased 3.11s -7.40 s at 2 L/min and 1.81s -4.18s at 5 L/min.

Conclusion

It was demonstrated that the elongated cannula insertion length resulted in lower embolic loads, particularly at a higher flow rate. The numerical results suggest that CPB management could combine active flow variation with improving cannula performance and provide a foundation for a future experimental and clinical investigation to reduce surgical cerebral air microemboli.

Cerebral Blood Flow Hemispheric Asymmetry in Comatose Adults Receiving Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation

Peripheral veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) artificially oxygenates and circulates blood retrograde from the femoral artery, potentially exposing the brain to asymmetric perfusion. Though ECMO patients frequently experience brain injury, neurologic exams and imaging are difficult to obtain. Diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) non-invasively measures relative cerebral blood flow (rBF) at the bedside using an optical probe on each side of the forehead. In this study we observed interhemispheric rBF differences in response to mean arterial pressure (MAP) changes in adult ECMO recipients. We recruited 13 subjects aged 21–78 years (7 with cardiac arrest, 4 with acute heart failure, and 2 with acute respiratory distress syndrome). They were dichotomized via Glasgow Coma Scale Motor score (GCS-M) into comatose (GCS-M ≤ 4; n = 4) and non-comatose (GCS-M > 4; n = 9) groups. Comatose patients had greater interhemispheric rBF asymmetry (ASYM_rBF) vs. non-comatose patients over a range of MAP values (29 vs. 11%, p = 0.009). ASYM_rBF in comatose patients resolved near a MAP range of 70–80 mmHg, while rBF remained symmetric through a wider MAP range in non-comatose patients. Correlations between post-oxygenator pCO₂ or pH vs. ASYM_rBF were significantly different between comatose and non-comatose groups. Our findings indicate that comatose patients are more likely to have asymmetric cerebral perfusion.